Members of the European Parliament’s trade committee will travel to Mexico this week to discuss to how to make progress on the EU-Mexico trade deal. The delegation consists of committee chair Bernd Lange, rapporteur Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero Fernández, S&D lawmaker Kathleen Van Brempt, Renew Europe’s Jordi Cañas, Identity and Democracy’s Marco Campomenosi and the independent member Enikő Győri.

Where things stand: In 2020, the European Union and Mexico concluded negotiations on the new trade agreement. But since then, things have gotten quiet. The Commission considered cutting out national parliaments in parts of the deal, but never actually presented that option officially, as it was going to be difficult to pass, both within the Council and with Mexican counterparts. More recently, the French Council of the EU presidency has made it politically difficult to make progress on any free trade deals. All that might change soon, since the Commission hopes that under the next two countries set to lead the rotating Council presidency, the Czech Republic and Sweden, there will be more momentum to move things forward.

Push from Parliament: Little progress has been made, Lange said ahead of the trip. The Parliament now hopes to push it forward: “The EU needs this agreement, especially in a context where we see an increase of protectionism, an increasingly inward looking focus of many of our trade partners and a weaponization of trade.” [...]